I’m thinking of retiring my Load Master and replacing it with a turret press. The two I’m considering are the Lee Classic Turret and the Lyman T-Mag II. For those that own these presses would you please share with me your pro’s and con’s of ownership and help me decide which one to go with. Your input is much appreciated.
Lee Classic Turret / Lyman T-Mag II
- Thread starter Bisbee
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jdownj
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I can't do a comparison, but I will say the lee is great bang for the buck... Buy a separate turret for each caliber to be able to leave the dies set up.
Certaindeaf
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Buckeyeguy525
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I'm the fella that wrote the review of the Redding T-7 and the Lee turret. While I have not owned the Lyman, it is similiar in operation to the Redding. Having owned both, in my opinion the Lee turret is by far a better reloading tool. The Redding, Lyman, and RCBS turret designs are very outdated as they are basically an open "C" press with multiple dies. Each time you put a case into a die (even pistol cases) the head of the turret deflects up and back at an angle. Because it is at an angle, you can't really compensate for this. Even the Redding, which is made of 25lbs of solid cast iron, deflects this way. The Lee on the other hand raises straight up slightly, you can compensate for this by screwing the die in just a little further. But aside from the deflection, the Lee had a much tighter linkage than the Redding, a better primer catch system and auto indexing, . Aside from that, it is much more fun to load on! Notice I have not said "for the price.." like most people do when they discuss the new Lee presses. That is because they probably have not used multiple presses to compare. Regardless of the money, the LCT is the best turret press out there right now hands down!
rikman
Member
Very happy with Lyman T mag.
Certaindeaf
member
I'm glad you chimed in. That was a great comparison and is relative to this thread.
I have owned and used the Lee Classic Turret for about 9 months and load 380, 38, 9mm and 45 AC P on it and just setting up to do 223. I upgraded to the classic turret after about a year+ on the Lee single stage. The Lee Turret is fabulous! While I haven't used a progressive, I went with the Lee Classic as a good compromise between other manf. turrets that did not have the indexing capability (slower) and progressive, where I hear always something not going quite right and it screws up four loads simultaneously. The Lee Classic Turret automatically indexes at the bottom of a press stroke. The Lee primer gizmo takes a little tweaking and feel and touch to put the primer on the priming lever, but nothing is perfect.
As others have said, there is a drop in disk that your 3-4 dies area all set up on. Use a Lee Pro auto disk which drops a consistently perfect charge of small ball powder (tight group is perfect for my all my pistol calibers). When you change calibers, you have to screw on the powder measure on the disk and choose a disk... takes about 5-8 minutes. Just magic combination: Classic Turret and Pro auto disk.
As others have said, there is a drop in disk that your 3-4 dies area all set up on. Use a Lee Pro auto disk which drops a consistently perfect charge of small ball powder (tight group is perfect for my all my pistol calibers). When you change calibers, you have to screw on the powder measure on the disk and choose a disk... takes about 5-8 minutes. Just magic combination: Classic Turret and Pro auto disk.
Centaur 1
Member
I wouldn't use the auto indexing feature so it doesn't matter to me if the press has one. I bought the Lyman T-mag after seeing it side by side with the Lee. It's a great press and it's built like a tank, I'm sure my grandchildren will use it one day. In my mind there is no comparison, the Lyman T-mag wins.
Lost Sheep
Member
Obiously Centaur1 and Buckeyeguy525 have different criteria for their choices.
I picked the Lee Classic Turret to replace my Lee Pro-1000 presses because of the auto-indexing. It is the only turret press that does that.
My friend chose the T-Mag.
I wonder what Bisbee (the O.P.) has for selection criteria?
How many calibers do you load? (Will caliber swaps be important to you? Turret cost is substantially different)
Will you be doing batch or continuous processing (or a hybrid of each)? (Auto-indexing is nice to have for continuous and if you need more than 4 die stations in use at one time, the Lee may not be for you.)
What (and how much of) large calibers will you load? (I think the Lyman has more leverage than the Lee, so it may make a difference, or may not.)
Lost Sheep
I picked the Lee Classic Turret to replace my Lee Pro-1000 presses because of the auto-indexing. It is the only turret press that does that.
My friend chose the T-Mag.
I wonder what Bisbee (the O.P.) has for selection criteria?
How many calibers do you load? (Will caliber swaps be important to you? Turret cost is substantially different)
Will you be doing batch or continuous processing (or a hybrid of each)? (Auto-indexing is nice to have for continuous and if you need more than 4 die stations in use at one time, the Lee may not be for you.)
What (and how much of) large calibers will you load? (I think the Lyman has more leverage than the Lee, so it may make a difference, or may not.)
Lost Sheep
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Centaur 1
Member
It is such an awesome hobby, we have just so many excellent choices to pick from. I always process my loads in batches. The 6 stations on my T-mag has the sizing/decapping die and the bullet seating for 3 calibers loaded and adjusted at all times. I reprime with the hornady handheld tool while I'm sitting watching TV with the family at night. I use only cast bullets so for expanding the case mouth I use the cheap Lee C-shaped press along with the Lee universal case mouth expanding tool and I attach this setup to my desk with a clamp. I just prefer to process in batches so this is what works for me. I've never used the Redding press, but it sounds to me like it is much harder to rotate the turret than with the T-mag. The Lyman uses a simple spring loaded ball detent to index the turret, rotating is easy with positive stops.
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I used an old orange and black T-Mag at our shop around 20yrs ago. At home I used my '82 Lee Turret press. Of the two I preferred the little Lee. I returned it to the original owner after using it for twenty years. To replace it, I bought a Lee Classic Turret press.
http://www.realguns.com/archives/122.htm
http://www.realguns.com/archives/122.htm
Buckeyeguy525
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- Apr 23, 2012
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I hope my post did not come off as bashing the Lyman..I was only trying to bash the Redding, lol. In my opinion, a non-auto indexing turret provides no real advantage over a single stage except that it cuts down on brass handling time. A single stage with quick changes dies (or just Hornady lock rings) eliminates the need to adjust dies again.
Like others have said the ultimate question is how are YOU going to load? Each press can do batch mode, the lee has auto indexing which (combined with the safety prime) allows you to easily crank out 150 rounds an hour. I have not used a Lyman, but I know with the Redding it was not very feasible to manually rotate the turret head to each die in a progressive manner. It took quite a bit of force to turn the turret (would put you back on your heels) and arm fatigue set in after about 30 rounds like that. This can be adjusted to index more easily, but then you get even more slop in the head. The Lee can be manually indexed very very easily.
As for cost, the Lee costs less and turrets are only $12. So if you are lazy like most and can't be bothered with screwing dies in and out, its great to have seperate turrets for each caliber.
I know for people born after 1980 (like myself), it is hard to believe that the cheapest product could actually be the best. We are used to overpaying for complete junk, and we just smile and keep shelling out the coin. Thats not the case with turret presses, in my opinion anyway
Like others have said the ultimate question is how are YOU going to load? Each press can do batch mode, the lee has auto indexing which (combined with the safety prime) allows you to easily crank out 150 rounds an hour. I have not used a Lyman, but I know with the Redding it was not very feasible to manually rotate the turret head to each die in a progressive manner. It took quite a bit of force to turn the turret (would put you back on your heels) and arm fatigue set in after about 30 rounds like that. This can be adjusted to index more easily, but then you get even more slop in the head. The Lee can be manually indexed very very easily.
As for cost, the Lee costs less and turrets are only $12. So if you are lazy like most and can't be bothered with screwing dies in and out, its great to have seperate turrets for each caliber.
I know for people born after 1980 (like myself), it is hard to believe that the cheapest product could actually be the best. We are used to overpaying for complete junk, and we just smile and keep shelling out the coin. Thats not the case with turret presses, in my opinion anyway
jmorris
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- Sep 30, 2005
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I had the Lee, it worked fine and loaded lots of rounds over the years before I gave it to a friend after I picked up the Lyman turret press. The Lyman is a much more solid feeling press and I can load for 3 different calibers (using 2 dies) without having to change the turret. Neither of them were new when I got them the Lee was $20 and the Lyman was $50 with the measure.
RustyFN
Member
I own the Lee classic turret. It's a very solid press. Loading pistol ammo at a relaxed pace I load around 175 per hour. If I want to step it up a little I can load 200 per hour. Loading 223 after case prep I can load around 250 per hour. It is very fast and easy to change calibers and primer feeds. I have owned the press for six years and have loaded thousands of rounds in 9mm, 38/357, 45 auto and 223. Nothing on the press has broke or wore out. You can buy the extra turrets for $10 to $12.
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